Phony Minestone

With the baby my cooking style is changing already. Gone are the days when I would linger over cooking dinner. Instead, I am trying to get our meal in the pot as fast as possible during my little guy's impossible short naps.

Last night I hit on success with a quick minestrone soup. As an added plus, it was easy to make a big pot, so Kevin and I both have lunch for a couple of days.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta, cut into small cubes
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped into rounds
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
12 ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 quart chicken stock
12 ounce can white beans, such as great northern beans or canallini beans
2 cups kale, finely chopped
1/2 pound bit sized pasta such as elbow macaroni
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add pancetta and cook until slightly brown. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally for four or five minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to incorporate. Cook for another three minutes. Add chopped tomatoes. Gently scrap all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pot, and then add chicken stock. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Add beans and kale. Allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes. Add pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked al dante. Add Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Pea Soup Is Comfort Food

I had the baby last week, right on schedule, which amazed me because I've never heard of someone delivering on their due date before. After two nights in the hospital, I was happy to come home and even happier that my Mom was able to come for a few days to help me get settled into parenthood.

While she was here, she made a batch of pea soup for us. A perfect winter soup, this batch really hit the spot and only got better after being in the fridge for a day or two.

Mom's Pea Soup
1 pound of split green peas
A hunk of ham, preferably on the bone*
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 large or 4 small potatoes, diced
4 carrots cut into rounds
Salt** and pepper

Put the peas and ham in a large stockpot and cover with six to eight quarts of water. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer and stir occasionally to keep the peas from settling on the bottom.

Next add onions, carrots, and potatoes. Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the peas disintegrate and the soup thickens to a velvety consistency. If you used ham in the bone, remove the bone from the soup, pick off any meat, and return the meat to the soup.

The peas will thicken overnight, so the soup is best served the next day.

* The ham can be replaced with kielbasa or double smoked bacon.
** If the ham is salty, you may not need to add additional salt.

Lentil Soup

I am trying to spend the last weeks of my pregnancy stocking up on simple meals that will be easy to prepare when the baby has arrived. Last night I decided to whip up a pot of lentil soup. Half we ate for dinner last night, and the other half when into the freezer.

The surprise ingredient? Ham hocks. A cut of pork from around the ankle of a pig, I thought it was very Southern to find them in my local grocery store. Ham hocks are not often used as a main dish, and instead are more commonly used to season vegetable dishes. The addition gave the soup a nice salty, rich undertone without being over powering.

1 large onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery
3 carrots
1 bag brown lentils
1 large Russet potato
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf

Finely dice onion. Preheat a large pot. Add oil and sauté onion until translucent. Mince garlic and add to the pot. Finely chop celery and slice carrots into rounds. Add to pot and cook for a few minutes. Add lentils and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook lentils for 10, skimming off any foam that appears on the surface. Peel the potato and cut into a large dice. Add potatoes to the pot and simmer until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

When the lentils are tender and the potatoes are cooked through the soup can be served. If usually let my lentil soup simmer for another 20 minutes or so, allowing the lentils to break down further and the soup to thicken a bit more.

Serve hot with crust whole wheat bread.

Potato Leek Soup

Today on Überall I blogged about the German's love for potatoes. According to my source, The American Journal of Potato Research, they eat between 396 and 440 pounds of potatoes annually. Since launching The Apron Caper last May, I've demonstrated my own German roots writing about potatoes more than any other single ingredient.

I have recipes for baked fries, two kinds of potato salad (German and American), and potato pancakes. In keeping with this theme, I thought it was a good day to share another one of my favorite recipes spotlighting the spud: potato leek soup.

3 leeks
1 pound russet potatoes*
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1⁄2 quarts chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Salt and pepper

Thinly slice the leeks. Heat a medium-sized pot with a heavy bottom, over a medium-high heat. Pour the olive oil to the pot and then add the leeks and sauté until soft, about three minutes.

Peel the potatoes and dice into half-inch pieces. Add the potatoes to the leeks and pour in chicken stock, which should cover the potatoes by about an inch. Bing to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovers for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour the contents of the pot into a blender, and puree until smooth. If desired, blend in butter, which will enhance the richness and mouth-feel. Reheat and serve.

* Russet potatoes, also known as baking potatoes, work best for this soup.

Leberknödelsuppe

What is Leberknödelsuppe? Translated directly from German to English, it's "liver dumpling soup." From a culinary perspective, it is basically a meatball made of finely ground liver served in a clear beef broth. It is popular in Bavaria and Austria, though you can find the dumplings at butchers throughout all of Germany.
Even if you're not an offal lover, you should give this soup a try. In general, I don't like liver. Not fried with onions and bacon, not chopped chicken livers, not even fois gras. But this soup is actually delicious.

I don't know if it's the fact that the soup makes you forget that your eating liver, or if the beef broth covers the natural liver taste, but you'd hardly know what the dumplings are made of liver. In fact, on two recent occasions people that I was eating with -- self-proclaimed liver haters -- not only tasted, but also enjoyed an entire bowl full.

Last Saturday they hosted Kevin's parent and Kevin and myself for a traditional German meal, which started with their wonderful Leberknödelsuppe. What a treat!

Pea Soup

For some people, it's the falling leaves. For others it's the crisp weather and change of wardrobe. For me, though, soup is the best thing about fall.

Again yesterday, as I was riding my bike home in the cool air, all I wanted to do was go home and put on a pot of soup for dinner. I didn't have any stock on hand, nor did I have a lot of time before diner, so my options were more limited then usual. What could I whip up in no time, let simmer unattended while I took care of some other projects around the house, and leave for Kevin to reheat later when he got home?

Pea soup perfectly fit the bill perfectly. Here's a super soup that even a novice will find easy to make.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup diced bacon (in used the pre-diced kind; if that's not available, dice two of three slices of thick cut bacon)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 16-ounce bag of dried green peas
2 potatoes
Salt and pepper

In a medium-sized pot, add olive oil and bacon. Allow the bacon to cook until it is brown, about three minutes. Dice onion and add to the pot. Allow onion to cook with bacon until it turns translucent, about three minutes. Slice carrots into rounds and dice celery. Add to pot and cook for two minutes. Add green peas.

Cover the contents of the pot by one inch with water. (This should be around one quart of water.) Bring water to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Dice the potatoes and add to the simmering water. Allow everything to cook until the peas are falling apart, about one hour and 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 6 servings.

Pumpkin Soup

It's crisp and cool here in Germany. Wonderful small pumpkins are beginning to flood the farms markets. Last week I made the season's first batch of pumpkin soup. A nice balance between sweet and savory, it almost makes it okay that summer has ended.


Make 2 to 3 servings

1 small to medium pumpkin
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 onion
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cream
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pumpkin into quarters and remove seeds. Place face up on a baking sheet. Coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove pumpkin skin.*

Dice onion and, in a medium-sized pot sauté in remain oil until translucent. Add pumpkin and stock. Season with salt and pepper and allow the liquid to come to a boil.

Using either an emersion blender or stand up blender, puree the contents of the pot until completely smooth. Add butter and cream and blend until full incorporated. Taste and reseason as needed. If necessary, return soup to pot to reheat. Serve hot.

* I removed half of the pumpkin skin and left the other half on. If you want a very smooth, fine texture remove all of the skin.

Warm Summer Soup

When you do think of summer soups, the chilled variety often comes to mind. But you don't need to completely write off warm soups during the summer months. Instead of soups that have been slowly simmered for hours, warm summer soups should be light and refreshing, with crisp, almost raw veggies.

Last night I made the following chicken soup, which is more like a salad in a bowl with warm broth.

(Serves 2)

1/2 cup of barley (or any other grain such as rice or couscous)
1 onion
1 stalks celery
3 carrots
1 teaspoons olive oil
1 chicken breasts
10 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
4 button mushrooms
2 scallions
4 radishes
1/2 red pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and pepper

Steam barley in 2/3 cup of boiling water.

Rough cut one onion, one carrot, and one stalk of celery. In a medium-size pot sauté the onion in olive oil for about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another minute. Add the chicken breasts and cover the contents of the pot by two inches with water. Add peppercorns and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Poach the chicken for twenty minutes skimming any film off the top of poaching liquid.

While the chicken is poaching, finely chop the remaining carrots along with all of the scallions, mushrooms, red pepper, and radishes. When the chicken is opaque all the way through, remove it from the liquid and set aside to cool. Strain the poaching liquid and discard the vegetables. Set the liquid aside.

Put the pot back on the stove. Add the poaching liquid and season soy sauce and pepper, and bring back to a simmer. Shred the chicken. Assemble ingredients in a bowl as follows: barley on the bottom, then chicken, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, radishes, and scallions. Pour hot broth over everything, and serve.

Sherry-laced chicken and cheese tortellini soup with spinach and caramelized onions*

2 onions
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts
10 whole peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup Sherry
2 cups fresh spinach
1 half-pound package of cheese tortellini
Salt and pepper

Rough cut half of one onion, one carrot, and one stalk of celery. In a medium-size pot sauté the onion in one teaspoon of olive oil for about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another minute. Add the chicken breasts and cover the contents of the pot by two inches with water. Add peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Poach the chicken for twenty minutes skimming any film off the top of poaching liquid.

Caramelize one of the onions in a small frying pan. Cut the onion in half from root to tip, remove the skin, and slice into long thin slices from the root to tip. Cook in 2 teaspoons of olive oil over low heat until dark brown, tossing occasionally to avoid burning. (You will have leftovers, which is a good thing. Toss then in a salad or put them on a sandwich.)

While the chicken is poaching and the onion caramelizing, finely chop the remaining half of the onion, carrot, and celery and mince the garlic. When the chicken is opaque all the way through, remove it from the liquid and set aside to cool. Strain the poaching liquid and discard the vegetables. Set the liquid aside.

Cook tortellini according to package instructions.

Put the pot back on the stove. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the onion and garlic for about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another two minutes. Add the Sherry to deglaze the pan and allow the liquid to evaporate. Add the poaching liquid and season with salt and pepper.

Shred the chicken. Chop spinach. Assemble ingredients in a bowl and pour over hot broth. Garnish with a slice of Parmesan sliced with a vegetable peeler.

* In the post above I used leeks, but in the past I've made this soup with caramelized onions, which are better. Onions have a more intense flavor and get a more beautiful brown color.